At short notice I pulled together five ladies or ‘lakies’ for a lifetime experience on one of the planet’s most coveted lakes: in one of the Cosmos’s most exquisite private villas... on the dreamy shores of Lake Como. Within forty-five minutes from Malpensa airport we were on our sexy, fully throttled, motor launch: a slick and seamless departure from Como’s Piazza Cavour pier.
The butler and staff, including the unflappable ‘Mistress of Ceremonies’, Victoria and Sonia, the sartorially elegant, hands-on, smooth villa operator, greeted us from La Cassinella’s front-of-house pier, together with trays of twinkling flutes and scented towels. As we stepped through the princely wrought-iron gates, guarded on either side by two finely sculptured, beautifully patinated, stone-figurines, and into the wondrous jasmine infused fold of this terracotta-kissed haven, we fell speechless and instantly spellbound.
It soon became clear there would be no boudoir badinage, as they are ALL sublime. However, I dropped my bag onto the original parquet floor of the ‘mesmeric master’ and placed my hat on the empresssized, hand-sprung, bed of dreams. The room glowed in soft eau-de-nil glory, while the lake’s enchanting iridescences, a mere pearl’s throw from the south-facing French doors and windows, felt integral.
Villa La Cassinella, framed by handpruned sky-touching Cyprus trees, was the summer love of several generations of the same family of Como architects, the Mantegazzas and neighbours exclusively with the glorious Villa del Balbianello.
Wildlife thrives here; peregrines circle overhead before diving into their cliffside nests; adorable goldcrests flit around sweeping conifers while sparrows, robins, swallows and the greater tits are forever chattering. The many stone paths are never without a darting lizard but, thankfully, most of the bug varieties seem to have settled elsewhere: it’s just as you would have envisaged Eden before the apple incident.
The newly designed lake-hued infinity pool appears to drop directly into the beckoning lake. The surrounding deck, with raised lake and mountain facing lawn, was lavished with the ultimate in poolside ‘decorum’. Though never easy pulling oneself away from this prelapsarian paradise: George Clooney was waiting! Thus, with pulses and hairstyles soaring, Laky Jen and myself roared across to his poolside for a brief encounter (not as special as ours – sorry).
Australien Masterchef, Philip, works with the Seasons and local organic ingredients. A genuine gastronomist, his immaculate kitchen cooked up banquet-style spreads that would impress the most discriminating of gourmets. We all wish to return, with husbands, or lovers, and children; it sleeps fifteen and possibly more... and my lottery ticket number begins with 8 and ends in infinite.
Read the full review and book online at www.luxuryexplorer.com
